Man United held to draw by Newcastle in England

Posted Sunday, November 27, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

LONDON (AP)—Manchester United was held to a 1-1 draw at home by Newcastle on Saturday, costing the defending champions in their bid to catch first-place Manchester City in the Premier League.

A disputed foul allowed Demba Ba to tie the score on a 61st-minute penalty kick for Newcastle at Old Trafford. Javier Hernandez put United ahead in the 49th.

United is four points behind City, which plays Liverpool on Sunday. Third-place Tottenham closed within two points of United with a 3-1 win at West Bromwich Albion.

Ba’s ninth league goal of the season came after Rio Ferdinand fouled Hatem Ben Arfa with what looked to be a legal challenge.

Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice in Tottenham’s club-record fifth straight Premier League win. Chelsea scored three times in the first half for a 3-0 victory over Wolverhampton.

Arsenal slipped two points behind Chelsea after defender Thomas Vermaelen scored a goal and gave up an own-goal in a 1-1 draw against Fulham. Wigan beat Sunderland 2-1 and was replaced at the bottom of the standings by Blackburn, which lost 3-1 at Stoke.

MILAN (AP)—Goals from Raffaele Rubino and Marco Rigoni enabled Novara to rally past Parma 2-1 in Serie A. Catania scored a last-minute goal to win 1-0 at Lecce.

Novara’s Matteo Centurioni diverted Jonathan Biabiany’s cross into his own net in the 29th minute. It could have been worse for the hosts had it not been for the strong play of goalkeeper Alberto Fontana.

Rubino tied it in the 70th and Rigoni headed in the winner shortly after Novara’s Giuseppe Gemiti was sent off in the 87th.

Novara rose to 17th position in the standings, above Bologna on goal difference and two points in front of Lecce, which was on the verge of earning a point against Catania before Pablo Barrientos scored.

MADRID (AP)—Spanish leader Real Madrid took advantage of red cards to defeat nine-man Atletico Madrid 4-1 for a 13th straight victory. Real maintained its 12-year unbeaten run in the city rivalry.

Adrian Lopez gave the visitors a 15th-minute lead before Atletico goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was shown a red card for bringing Karim Benzema down inside the penalty area. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 24th-minute penalty kick. Angel Di Maria marked his return from injury with what proved to be the winning goal in the 49th.

Substitute Gonzalo Higuain scored in the 65th and forced a second ejection, leading to Ronaldo’s 82nd-minute penalty kick.

Valencia stayed in touch with the top of the Spanish league with a 2-1 win at Rayo Vallecano.

BERLIN (AP)—Borussia Dortmund took the lead in the German league, defeating rival Schalke 2-0 win. Dortmund had not beaten Schalke at home since 2007 but has now won seven of its last eight Bundesliga games.

With Bayern Munich idle until it plays at Mainz on Sunday, Robert Lewandowski scored in the 16th minute for the defending champions and Felipe Santana provided an an insurance goal in the 61st.

Pierre-Michel Lasogga’s second goal gave Hertha Berlin a 3-3 draw with Bayer Leverkusen after having lost a two-goal lead. Eren Derdiyok scored a hat trick for Leverkusen.

U.S. defender Timmy Chandler scored for Nuremberg, which beat Kaiserslautern 1-0. Hoffenheim drew 1-1 with Freiburg and last-place Augsburg defeated Wolfsburg 2-0.

Hamburger SV drew 1-1 at Hannover, extending manager Thorsten Fink’s unbeaten run in all competitions since taking over the then-last-place club last month.

PARIS (AP)—Olivier Giroud’s hat trick led Montpellier to a 3-1 win at Sochaux, keeping the pressure on Paris Saint-Germain at the top of the French league.

Montpellier is in front by three points. PSG plays at rival Marseille on Sunday.

Giroud opened the scoring in the 50th minute. Abdoul Camara tied it in the 84th following a goalmouth scramble, but Giroud struck in the 87th and 89th minutes to seal the win.

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP)—Gary Hooper scored a hat trick to give Celtic a 5-0 win over St. Mirren in the Scottish Premier League.

Celtic has 35 points to Rangers’ 40, although the defending champions play Kilmarnock on Sunday.

Third-place Motherwell is five points further back after a 0-0 draw against Dundee United, while Aberdeen drew 3-3 at Dunfermline, Hearts beat visiting Inverness 2-1, and St. Johnstone beat Hibernian 3-1.

ATHENS, Greece (AP)—Steve Leo Beleck scored a goal in each half to lead AEK Athens to a 2-0 victory at newcomer Panaitolikos in the Greek league.

The win puts AEK on top of the standings with 22 points from 11 games. Panathinaikos, which hosts OFI Sunday, is two points behind but with three games in hand.

Ergotelis beat visiting Giannena 2-1 and PAOK stumbled at home against lowly Kerkyra with a scoreless draw.